superfluousbanter_v.03

Wii-iiiiiiiiiiiiii

2007-04-11T23:25:00.000-06:00

When the Nintendo Wii launched last November I really, really wanted to get one but knew I was completely unwilling to pay its initial launch cost. Honestly, $279 is a little steep for my pocketbook.

As weeks and then months passed, my hope of ever owning a Wii steadily diminished as empty shelves greeted Nintendo loyalists across North America. The shortage of product was astonishing. Five months after launch, stores were still only receiving a few units per week, and customers were still lining up outside Toys 'R' Us, at 5am every Saturday, to get there hands on a system.

It appears that my parent's sudden infatuation with the system, coupled with the exhuberence of the new Vegreville Wal-Mart employees, has combined forces to get me a Wii.

My parents put their name on a waiting list and were told it could take weeks, if not longer before they would be called. Just a day or two later they received their call to "pick up their Wii" and not wanting to make multiple trips to the edge of town, it appears that they picked up 3 Wii's. Yes, multiples.

They'll keep one for the Daycare (damn lucky kids, if you ask me!), Debbie is taking one for her kids, and the final one is reserved just for me. It was a shock to the system when they called me, to be sure, and I can't wait to set the little entertainment system up!

Currently: Wishing I had made better picks for my playoff pool.

She Said YES

2007-04-07T13:20:00.000-06:00

To those of you that we haven't seen or talked to in person, we apologize if this is your first notification, but Nicole and I are now happily engaged!

The evening was March 21, 2007, and with a huge hand from Jeremy and Alex (who did all the decorating while we were out) it was a complete success. It was an absolute surprise for Nicole, the house didn't burn down, and Maizey didn't eat the engagement ring.

There's been no wedding date picked, so you'll probably be met with blank stares and varrying degrees of "ums" and "uhs" if you raise the question with either of us.

Currently: Excited, nervous, humbled, overjoyed, grateful, loved...

Does Not Play Well With Others

2007-03-15T23:41:00.000-06:00

Though I have absolutely no problem with the existence of other people, specifically my University peers, I'm not particularily keen on having to co-operate with them. No, wait, that's not entirely true.

I just don't want my interactions with them to significantly impact my GPA, as is typically the case with damnable groupwork!

My lifestyle is not compatable with the demands of working in a group. No, I can't meet you after class, I've got to work/sleep/do nothing. I'd love to show you what I've completed already but I only do assignments the night before they're due. This applies to reading a paragraph for class or choosing a topic/starting/completing a term research paper. And no, under no circumstances will I submit an assignment in before the due date...please see the previous point.

The proof, as they say, is in the puddin':

1. Test Item Construction, group, 77% (88/115)
2. Individualized Program Plan, group, 75% (33/44)
3. Classroom Management Plan, only me, 98% (39/40)
4. Science Lesson Planning, only me, 96% (48/50)

In no way am I implying that I'm intellectually superior to the Education students around me. I'm not. Read one of my essays and your B.S. detector might burn out...but in assessment situtations, especially involving writing, I just seem to know how to massage those high marks out of the professor.

My fellow group members, I've been lead to believe, also typically score marks vastly superior to the mid-70's. So what exactly is going on here? The surest route to mediocrity begins with decisions by committee, that's what.

Currently: Pleasantly surprised that today was my last day of class...

Behind the Cage

2007-02-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

Whenever I reminisce about playing goal in hockey, I think back to the crazy Frenchman that tended the net in Slapshot. He was, by all accounts, completely out of his mind, both on and off the ice. To a certain degree, you have to be a bit "imbalanced" to want to play a position that:

The entire opposing team is out to humiliate.
Hard objects are hurled towards you at frightening speeds.
An "off" game means that you single-handedly doom your team to failure.

Now, we do need a little perspective here - we're playing men's rec league ball hockey, but even this is not without it's challenges. All the laid back street hockey in the world doesn't prepare you much for performing in front of complete strangers, in a competitive situation, with a finite time limit. We'd play street hockey to 10 goals, which could take 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the pace. In this league you've got 50 minutes to work your magic, or alternately, 50 grueling minutes to endure a relentless ass-kicking. Game to game you just never know if you'll be facing a group of weekend warriors or an entire off-season Junior A Provincial Champion squad.

For me, personally, I've been happy with my progression in the few games that I've played goal. In my first game I was nervous, scrambling, and so hot-n-tired that I was on the verge of collapsing before the end of the first period. Since that game I find myself a bit less nervous, but way more confident. My positioning and speed is still a major work in progress, but at least I'm not fighting my own body for endurance.

Also, like most goalies, I'm completely obsessed with my stats. These, I'm happy to report, have absolutely showed signs of progress:

Game 1: Loss, 26 GA, 65 Shots, 39 Saves = 0.600 SV%
Game 2: Win, 10 GA, 42 Shots, 32 Saves = 0.762 SV%
Game 3: Loss, 8 GA, 49 Shots, 41 Saves = 0.837 SV%

Sure, I'd love nothing more than to have a 3 - 0 record, but for the moment I'll be content with statistical progress!

Currently: Starting to hydrate for the game on Saturday. Drink water boys, plenty of water!

Balanced Breakfast

2007-02-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Apparently Maizey is a firm believer in this mantra.

I'd made 2 "Egg McMuffins" for my early morning commute to student teaching - the first one was delicious though the second one tasted God-awful. The reason for this discrepancy currently eludes me.

The vile disappointment sat in my car all day and froze solid. Upon returning home, Maizey was quick to pounce upon the frozen morsel. Very quick and very sneaky she was. Very sneaky indeed.

She was, however, nice enough to pose for a few pictures before dropping the inedible McTurd and slowly, ashamedly, marching straight into her kennel for some quiet reflection.

Currently: Battling a wicked cold I picked up while student teaching.

Update pwned...

2007-02-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this isn't exactly a new post to get all excited about, but it is representative of potential future posting. I've been so busy lately, with so many things to do, that logically, I've done very little of anything at all. My finely crafted procrastination skills are battling head-to-head with the academic demands of my semester...and well, I suppose, the professional demands of becoming a certified educator.

I've fiddled around with the design a bit, brought on by my switch to the "new" Blogger standard. I'm quite pleased with it. I find the layout to be rather pleasing on the senses.

During coffee this morning I was reflecting (as one typically does while drinking coffee in the morning) on how many exams I've probably written in my university career...the potential tally was quite shocking. A conservative estimate would place it at over 130, with at least 45 of those being final exams. Consequently, that would also indicate I've dedicated approximately 130 nights to studying/opening my text books.

Over the course of 6 years.

Currently: Skimming over 200 pages of "supplementary readings" for my Classroom Management midterm.

Time Travel

2006-11-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

After being 26 years old for a month now, I've realized Jeremy's lament that he "wouldn't have suggested turning 26" was painfully accurate.

This morning I completely bit it in the shower. Personally, I hadn't scheduled for that type of bathing incident until I was firmly in my 70's, but apparently incompetence knows no bounds.

One minute I was lathering myself up with some body gel and the next moment I was a crumpled heap in the bottom of the bathtub - one shampoo bottle completely destroyed, a numb left forearm, and pain radiating from all my extremities. The humiliation of physical injury is magnified by at least a factor of 5 when you're stark naked and clutching a frothy pink loofah for dear life.

Currently: Screwing around with mathematical functions in Excel.

To The Woodshed...

2006-10-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Though I might come off sounding a bit, well, retarded, I just can't seem to feel bad about losing 18 - 2 at ball hockey. It was a travesty of unimaginable proportions, to be sure, but I save my competitive rage for loses by fewer than 16 goals. Play hard and lose a game by 1, maybe 2 goals - that's hard on a guy's ego.

It's not that I'm not competitive or immune to the sting of humiliation when I lose, but what happened out there on the court went beyond one team playing better. It was evident after the first 3 minutes that our opponents could've done quite well in a higher division...perhaps, oh I don't know, the highest. To a man they were taller, faster, and stronger. I swear, when I took face-offs against their #2, I was practically eye-level with his navel!

Perhaps I walked away feeling good about the game because I was able to attain some personal goals. In my first game I think I was on the floor for half of the opposing team's goals. In this whuppin' my line was only victimized for one. I'm pretty sure I didn't win a face-off in my first game. Though we were getting beaten like rented mules, I managed to win about half of my face-offs. Also, I didn't trip over my own stick, score on my own net, or suffer any disfiguring injuries.

From where I'm standing, that embarrassment to the good game of hockey was an unmitigated success!

Finally, and to be completely honest, I go out there and run around like an idiot, or flop around in the crease because I'm having fun doing it. It doesn't matter if it's just the boys playing street hockey or us man-boys out there sporting Decepticon logos. I'm trying, and learning, and if what I do contributes to a victory that's just an added bonus. I appreciate the game because it's an opportunity to get together. To me, and I realize I'm bordering on the highest degree of corny-ness here, that hour of highs and lows, of those shared experiences, far outweighs the numbers on the scoreboard.

Currently: Praying that I won't be near immobilized for the next 3-4 days.

East Side Mario's < Steaming Rat Feces

2006-10-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Without hesitation, or lack of remorse, I would never recommend East Side Mario's to anyone wishing even an acceptable dining experience - not even my worst enemy.

Nicole and I first attempted to crash the Olive Garden but they estimated a 90 minute wait for a table. Forget that, our hungers needed satiation immediately. We kept heading south and ended up in South Edmonton Common, and to our future mutual dissatisfactions, decided to try a bit of American-Italian eating.

My God.

Though we only had to wait 10 minutes or so, we were escorted to a corner table in what I swear was the kiddy room. As we opened the menu's for the first time, Nicole casually observed how "sticky" hers was and pointed out the abundance of crusties between the laminated pages. The server came to take our orders and promptly tipped a container of whipped butter onto the table which then fell all over the floor.

When she returned with our waters and failed to clean up the mess.

After taking our orders she then swiped the menus off the table, smearing them directly over the whipped butter. I guess that solved the "sticky menu" conundrum.

She then returned with our unlimited salad and garlic bread and dropped a second container of whipped butter, this time directly in front of Nicole.

By the time our main courses arrived, we were still surrounded by gobs of whipped butter. We finally asked her to please clean up the table and she half-heartedly did so, practically pouting. By this point we felt no remorse in mentioning that she also forgot our appetizer.

This description, so far, really sounds like it was simply a bad experience with a terrible server. Sure, that was a pain to deal with, but the real reason East Side Mario's sucks ass is because the food is over-priced and terrible. The unlimited bread was dry and flavourless, and the unlimited "caesar salad" was soggy lettuce drowned in near-flavourless dressing. Not a crouton in sight. Our appetizer, calamari, not only tasted but also had the texture of something entirely artificial. I think I summed it up best when I described them as breaded condom rings.

Rubber gaskets would have also been an apt comparison.

The main courses themselves, though they were touted as the special features, were almost embarrassing to behold. Boil some pasta at home and slop on some Ragu and you've got the same thing for 1/10 the price. Nicole's shrimp, inedible. My "mini pork roast," 2/3 bone. Bah! It was absolutely awful. I feel as if words are failing me in trying to convey what a despicable restaurant the place was.

When we first got seated I made the comment that it appeared to be the "Red Robbins of Italian eateries, but now in retrospect, that comment is an unforgivable comparison to any restaurant.

Currently: Begrudgingly choking down my left-overs.

Humanmetrics

2006-10-26T22:05:00.000-06:00

Which of the following individuals does not belong to the group?

a) Socrates
b) Rene Descartes
c) Sir Isaac Newton
d) Albert Einstein
e) Bob Newhart
f) Kristopher Skinner
g) C. G. Jung

Ha! It's a trick question! Following Nicole's lead, I filled out Jung's Typology Test and was considered to be an INTP, or an Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving.

As with most tests of this sort, regardless of medium, the validity of the results is always in question, as is just what the test might actually be measuring, but I still get a kick out of doing them. The INTP description felt like a pretty good fit, though I initially didn't agree with the "love of mathematics" part.

Then I got to thinking...

The math course I'm taking this semester is also my best, mark-wise. It frustrates me to no end, and I have little confidence that I can succeed in my assignments, yet I'm easily 25% above the curve. Perhaps ol' Jung-o ain't so far off the mark after all.

Currently listening to: The Oilers getting destroyed by the Coyotes! Bah!

Secondary School DS Lite

2006-10-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

This morning was my third Study Buddy session at Coronation Elementary, and as usual, I was working with two Grade 5 students. I'm usually asked to help the students with either math or reading comprehension. My first session I did both, did all reading comprehension during my second visit, and today it was all math.

These kids are in the IB Program (re: for the smart kids) so they tend to know their stuff - getting them to do their homework or stay focused on task is the challenge with them. Anyways, their teacher had suggested that we could do supplement their assignments with some flash card work. Without premeditation, the thought stuck me that I had my DS with me and a copy of Brain Age. I explained to the teacher that it could work as "electronic flash cards" and she happily agreed.

Man oh man was it a great idea! I'd have the kids work on their assignments and once they finished a section and gave it to me to mark, I'd let them work on Calculations x20. I'd have them correct their mistakes, proceed to the next section, and the cycle would continue. In a nut shell, I roped in their attention with a videogame, they got a reward for doing well, and the whole while they were still doing their math!

Brilliant!

Currently: Looking forward to my first student teacher placement.

Warm Fuzzies

2006-10-19T14:34:00.000-06:00

Whether they're actors or not, it's still fun to see their expressions as they play around with the Nintendo Wii Remote. I figure this thing will be reasonably priced by the time I graduate with my B.Ed.

Currently: Pouring over my EDIT 202 Powerpoint notes.

Of Academic Importance

2006-10-18T20:27:00.000-06:00

01010100 01101000 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100001 01110100 01100101 01110010 01101001 01100001 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01000101 01000100 01001001 01010100 00100000 00110010 00110000 00110010 00100000 01100011 01101111 01110101 01110010 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100100 01101110 01110101 01101101 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100111 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 00101100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101001 01100011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100110 01100101 01110011 01110011 01101111 01110010 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100011 01101100 01110101 01100100 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110101 01110011 01100101 01100110 01110101 01101100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010 01110000 01101111 01101001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 01100101 01110011 00101110

Binary to Text Converter
Arabic to Roman Numerals Converter
English to Pig-Latin Converter
The Klingon Language Institute
Job Posting for English-Klingon Bilingualists

Yes, that's right. Based on this latest set of lecture notes, my EDIT 202 mid-term exam tomorrow afternoon will be a strange one indeed.

Currently listening to: Our Lady Peace - Wipe That Smile Off Your Face

At A Medium Pace

2006-10-17T16:12:00.000-06:00

Twenty-six. The big 2 - 6. The square root of 676. This past Sunday was my latest in a series of annual birthdays and it was a delicious milestone. Apparently Jeremy would have advised me not to turn 26, but, well...here we are.

A handful of us went down to Gabbana: Casual Dining for a taste of inexpensive Asian-fusion dining. I'd been there once previously, quite some time ago, and it was my immediate choice after Unheardof was discovered to be far more pricey than my conscience would allow.

While waiting for a table I glanced around the room and was stricken by an eerily familiar sight. I turned to Nicole and whispered, "Hey, that guy with the glasses over there...he looks...he looks just like Mayor Mandel." Nicole didn't think it was quite an ominous coincidence. "Uh, Honey, that is Mandel." While I bartended at the Shaw Conference Centre I had the chance to serve Bill "The Best City in the Best Province in the Best Country in the World!" Smith and he was a non-tipping, pompous ass. This brush with celebrity was far less enraging.

To sum up the restaurant in one word - delicious. Despite having to resort to my 3rd menu choice, the Teriyaki Chicken Stirfry (the Carmelized Beef Brisket and Glazed Pork Medallions were both out), I wasn't disappointed. The house red wine at $15 for a 1/2L was also a tasty, refreshing deal. By the time desert arrived, which I quickly devoured, I was pleasantly full, though not overly-stuffed, as the meal had already lasted nearly 2 hours.

That was the best part of all - it's labeled "casual dining" for a reason. There was no rush to get in, eat, and get out. It was an atmosphere that encouraged conversation and relaxation. Going out to eat, especially with a group of loved ones, should only partly be about assuaging your hunger pangs.

So, over the course of the evening as I enjoyed great food and waxed poetic about "growing" homemade meat and eating babies, I couldn't help but appreciate that it was a great start to my 26th year.

Currently: Basking in the post-nervousness glow of writing mid-term exam 3-of-5.

Dry Run

2006-10-12T21:48:00.000-06:00

Nearly an entire month since I last posted? That would have to mean I'm already 1/8 done my Education degree! Woo! Only 7 eighths to go.

I'll be heading down to Coronation Elementary for an interview tomorrow. Aside from a few chance encounters with my nieces and nephews over the past 10 years, I'll readily admit that my exposure to children is lacking... so I signed up for EPS's Study Buddy Program. Every school has different needs, but you're typically expected to volunteer 1 hour per week, tutoring either a single child or a small group of children. I won't know the specifics of Coronation's expectations until the interview. Needless to say, I'm excited to get my first, primordial, taste of being an educator.

I'm hoping my child will need help with dodgeball.

Currently: Watching the first season of Battlestar Galactica. Awesome.

Now You Know!

2006-09-28T19:08:00.000-06:00

Google is a calculator! All these years and I had no idea...I guess this EDIT 202 course isn't a waste of my time after all. Try it out and see.

Currently: Trying out (4 * 2) -10 / 2 =

Corporate Crack Dealers

2006-09-14T21:14:00.000-06:00

Fashion designers should be ashamed of themselves.

I'll be the first to admit that with the emergence of "low-rise" jeans, the occasional, fleeting glimpse of female butt cleavage was a new experience not entirely displeasing. Flash forward a good half decade (perhaps even longer) and the entire crack phenomenon has spiraled dangerously out of control!

It seems female dungarees now start at low-rise and progressively work down to super-ultra-low-rise...jeans, sweats, skirts, you name it. There is virtually nothing else for women to buy. Combine this fashion hijacking with shirts that insist on being deceptively short along the backside, and we've got ourselves a recipe for copious amounts of relentless ass crack.

This year at the University has been particularly bad. With a female to male ratio of nearly 40-1 in Elementary Education, this once endearing, juvenile indulgence has been unjustly overwhelmed by my classmates and their continuously exposed derriers. I'm forced to pretty much stare at the ceiling as lectures end and rows of female students arise lest I be blinded by the fluorescent light refracting at various angles off their acres of exposed flesh.

I may be a man, and a man who enjoys the curvaceous figure of the finer sex, but there's a time and a place for appreciating it. My 9:00am Math 160 lecture isn't one of those places. Shame on you fashion industry, shame on you indeed.

Currently listening to: The crinkling moans of wind on tinfoil.

Break Out The Tweed Jacket

2006-09-13T22:53:00.000-06:00

"Nurturing children is judged very closely to molesting them... A public perception is that men who teach primary grades are often homosexuals, pedophiles or principals (in training)."

That is a quote from The ATA Magazine which also happens to be in the final assigned reading in my EDU 250 course - I chose to read the article first. I can honestly say that my foray into Elementary Education will be met with unprecedented challenges unlike any I've faced before. Never before have I had to contend with such powerful, negative (and decidedly misinformed) social stigma.

I prefer to counter my initial quote with this one:

"Schools demonstrate daily that child care is women's work. Female teachers, by their presence, demonstrate that caring is what women do. The men are 'out there.' I believe that the absence of men shows that children are not valued in our culture. It seems to me that in our patriarchal society, if children are highly valued, men would be present. Men would regard this as men's work. If children represent the future, then perhaps the future is not valued. Perhaps our society's lack of interest in raising our children shows that we are truly living only for today."

More on this looming social and professional enigma as it develops, my friends.

My first week in pursuit of a second university degree has been overwhelmingly positive and unexpectedly invigorating! It's a completely different feeling to be in the midst of a professional program - a program which is actively preparing you for a career. A program being taught by actual former teachers, who love teaching, and can't wait to ignite that fire within each of us. What a drastic departure from Sociology TA's, who exude utter disdain for undergraduates, yet are forced to "teach" them to further their academic pursuits.

From day one the Faculty of Education made it very clear that it would use every available resource at its disposal to help us students excel. The staff were present at Orientation to congratulate us for our acceptance into the program and offer preemptive offers of support. It's nice to be reminded that new learning environments and philosophies exist within the same institution I've spent the better part of the past decade in.

I can feel it already - this is the start of something great in my life.

Currently: Fighting to type accurately on my new, ergonomic keyboard.

Sweet Re-design!

2006-08-07T22:14:00.000-06:00

I figured it was time to spruce up the ol' blog and get it ready for a whole new year of actual, frequent use.

My foray into the realm of Elementary Education begins the next phase of my life and I'm absolutely certain I'll have a few things to say about it along the way. Aside from some residual nervousness about returning to University, where I've already spent a great deal of time and money, I'm starting to get very excited about the upcoming experience.

I'm not just excited about challenging myself to learn something new, but also about some of the goals I've set for myself. Among other things, these goals include managing my savings properly, biking to school for as long as possible, eating well (re: NO bought lunches from HUB/SUB/CAB), a proper sleeping schedule, continual exercise (heck, I've put off the UofA karate club for too long!), and on they go...

Anyways, I'll be sure to keep in touch and update you guys on my progress. As for the new site design, if you're thinking this page is looking pretty blank, it's probably because you're not using Explorer. For some odd reason the template doesn't work with Mozilla?

Currently listening to: Matthew Good Band - The Fall of Man

iTunes-a-palooza 2006

2006-08-06T23:30:00.000-06:00

According to iTunes, my music library currently stands at 1499 songs. For those of you keeping score at home, it's taking up 7.67 GB of space and can play continuously for 4.1 days.

Quite frankly, that's a shit-load of music.

Currently listening to: Metric - Glass Ceiling

$40,000.00 per b/w copy

2006-07-18T02:05:00.000-06:00

Lo and behold! A mere 11 months and 17 days after completing the final, but necessary, course credits, the University of Alberta has actually bestowed my degree parchment upon my person!

I've gotta tell you folks, after finishing school 3 years later than expected, attending my convocation ceremony 10 months after that point (where my name was not in the program nor had they printed my parchment), and then waiting another month for them to mail my parchment (they'd still forgotten to get the damn thing printed!) this whole farce has ended overwhelmingly anti-climacticly.

Let's see, what did I figure I'd be doing at age 25 when I started University at the tender age of 17? With my law degree in hand I'd have already been workin' the legal system for 3 years, well on my way to "Freedom 55."

Such naive, teenage dreams...

...though workin' the rigs to try and afford returning to school for another degree isn't really all that different, right? Clocking in at 27 years old before "entering the real world" shouldn't be my continual, self-imposed shame, should it?

Time to look on the positive side. One goal accomplished, another soon to be!

Currently: Watching Maizey devour the last of her "ultra-compressed" rawhide bone.

The Ultimate UV Protection

2006-06-17T04:06:00.000-06:00

A rather ingenious way to avoid a nasty bout of the melanoma is to avoid the damaging rays of the sun altogether. This is something I have accomplished for most of the month of June.

How you ask?

Have I conjured up some sort of mirrored bubble-suit? Do I lurk in the musty confines of Edmonton's sewers by day, only to nocturnally feed on drunken Whyte-avers thrice a week? Well, not quite. I simply told Statistics Canada to cram their paper-filing sweatshop with walnuts, and returned to Tri-City Drilling. I've been placed on the night crew, which works daily from 19:00-07:00. Though I enjoy watching the sun set and then rise every shift, it's a poor trade-off for completely flipping my internal clock.

Quite a bit has actually occurred since my last post, including (in no particular order) my Convocation Ceremony, the winning of a vintage Paul Coffee jersey, the purchase of one Nintendo DS Lite, the eating of a delicious chicken salsa omelet, and discovering the art of borrowing books from the Edmonton Public Library. More on this to come!

Currently: Thinking myself a fool for being up at this hour!

Chinese Water Torture

2006-05-26T01:34:00.000-06:00

That pretty much sums up my working experience with the 2006 Census. I was led to believe, over the course of completing my Sociology major, that employment with Statistics Canada was the proverbial mountain top of disciplinary satisfaction. Though such a bold claim may still hold true, it definitely does not correlate directly to what I've been hired to accomplish.

I've uttered an oath of secrecy to Big Brother, which is binding for L-I-F-E, so I'll have to be as vague about my job as possible. My first two shifts were spent staring blankly at my cubicle wall, once all possible topics of co-worker conversation were exhausted, as there was apparently "nothing to do, yet." Surely the cogs of statistical enumeration would be put into motion after the long-weekend! Right?

I spent my third shift embroiled in solving mind puzzles, watching the first period of the Oilers game over supper, then printing 1200 recruitment posters for a higher-paid position than mine. It was my function to feed the paper into the printer and extract the posters in piles of 20. The higher-ups then took these piles of 20, jammed them all together, and distributed them to my co-workers...who were given the task of sorting them into piles of 20 for envelope encapsulation. At some point I also made a "sign-in" form in Excel.

Thursday night I made a few more forms in Excel since management was impressed with my spreadsheet-abilities from the previous shift, stared off into blank space until supper, when I watched the Oilers get destroyed in the first period, and finished the shift off by completing all the puzzles in the Journal. At the shift's conclusion, management was still unsure as to when our "work" would be arriving.

Normally I wouldn't mind being paid to do nothing, but I'm doing nothing at a much lower rate of pay than I was led to believe, for far fewer hours than "full-time employment" categorically entails. I must've missed the memo outlining how 2 + 2 = 5.

I will give the Feds credit for one thing - they sure aimed high when hiring us office drones...just ask the Physics Honours student, the girl accepted into Dentistry, or the Science undergraduate with a published book on Harmony Theory! There's probably a Nobel Prize winner lurking around the Zerox machine, sobbing softly into his $6.00/month-water/coffee-pool coffee.

Currently: Wishing I hadn't drunk so much coffee during the night shift.

I Hear They're Awesome Live

2006-05-22T02:13:00.000-06:00

Nicole and I had the chance to check out The Constantines at the Starlight Room last evening, but things did go slightly awry.

The tickets stated "doors open at 8pm" which would lead you to believe that things would get underway shortly thereafter. We decided to watch the last two periods of the Oilers game in the lounge area, not too concerned about missing the opening acts.

After the game we wedged ourselves into the concert area, it was almost 10:30, and it looked like the roadies were setting things up for the Constantines. To our astonishment, these "roadies" then began to play! It was the FIRST opening act, and at one point the singer thanked the Constantines for loaning them their instruments.

By the time we got into the second act, and the clock approached midnight, it was evident we were in no shape to wait for the headliners. We were tired, sore, and far too emotionally spent from our house inspection to last any longer. We shuffled home, dodging the human feces on the stairs down to Bellamy Hill, and crawled doe-eyed into bed.

Currently: The proud owner of a membership to the Starlight room - it was still a cool place!

Weekend Leisure?

2006-05-19T23:51:00.000-06:00

God himself rested on the seventh day, but lo!, no such luxury extends to the modern, urban man.

In the twilight hours of Saturday morning I'll be making my way back to Vegreville to help my parents build a new deck. I've been known to swing a hammer once or twice in my day, so by default, I'm a carpenting dynamo. While I'm out there I'll also be setting up a computer for the Die's - an abandoned unit in need of a loving home. At some point in the evening, I'll then race back to Edmonton to attend Russel's secret birthday party. Ssshhh!

Though I don't know about you, I find personal knowledge of my birth-date is more than enough to prevent its yearly occurrence being an absolute surprise...

And then there's Sunday. Oh, Sunday! Nicole and I will be attending our very first house inspection. Purchasing a house is a terrifying proposition for anyone incapable of using cash for the entire amount. For two individuals still somewhat stuck in "poor, credit-denied student mode" (okay, perhaps me more so than my better half) it's daunting to partake in a financial transaction involving 6 figures, to be paid back over an equal amount of time to how long we've presently existed on this Earth. Nicole and I have been veritable powder kegs of stress, exuberance, uncertainty, and conviction. At the same time it's also an exciting step forward, and a manageable one, if we exercise strict financial vigilance.

Finally, to celebrate/unwind/de-stress, we'll be attending the Constantines show at the Starlight Room later Sunday evening.

Currently: Secretly hoping I won't need to return Monday to finish the deck!

Mid-week Satisfaction

2006-05-15T23:16:00.000-06:00

Ahhh...though I'm sure I won't be able to walk tomorrow morning, it sure felt great to play some ball hockey after nearly 10 months on the shelf. I got to break in my sweet new equipment, which felt a bit awkward at first, but increased in comfort substantially by the end of things. The result was a 1-1 split, with some decent saves and more than a few misplays.

But hey, it's not easy shaking off 309 days worth of rust.

Currently: Overpowered by the used-equipment funk which has permeated my pores.

Selfless Concern

2006-05-12T23:26:00.000-06:00

Dear Shaw Internet Customer

In order to provide all Shaw Internet customers with an optimal Internet experience we proactively assess our network. Through our analysis we have noticed that the level of activity on your Internet account is more than 30 to 50 times that of our average Internet user.

We would like to help identify the cause(s) of the heavy traffic that may be affecting your computer's performance and most importantly your Internet experience. Often a file sharing program can be the cause of high amounts of traffic. Not only will this affect the flow of traffic on the Internet it also puts a major strain on your computer's resources.

For more information about how large quantities of Internet traffic can adversely affect your online experience please click here: http://support.shaw.ca/assistance/filesharing

If you need assistance please click here to find your local Shaw telephone number: http://support.shaw.ca/contacts.htm

PLEASE NOTE:

We ask that the account holder reply indicating they have read this e-mail and will address this issue.

To view the Acceptable Use Policy please visit: http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/AboutShaw/TermsofUse/AcceptableUsePolicyInternet.htm

Thank you for your cooperation.

Internet Assistance Team
SHAW) High Speed Internet Services

Oh, come on now, 50 times that of the average high speed user? I admit, quite a bit of data passes through my ol' PC, but I'm pretty sure Shaw's high-balling this figure. Then again, if the average user is simply checking their email and doing their banking, than a single 24GB download containing all 6 Star Wars DVDs just might boost my usage stats!

CurrentlyRevelingng in the Oilers' 6-3 pounding of the Sharks.

The Streak Continues!

2006-05-07T22:07:00.000-06:00

Though it's almost difficult to comprehend, my ball hockey inaction streak now stands at an impressive 8 months and 3 weeks.

So help me God, if the rest of you were out there playing this Sunday and failed to call me, I'll hunt each and every one of you down in an increasingly fantastical murderous rampage...

Currently: Downloading "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

The Art of the Slow Clap

2006-04-30T23:21:00.000-06:00

There's a certain finesse that must be utilized in choosing the correct euphemism for any given situation. Heck, as I write this, I'm not entirely sure euphemism is even the correct phraseology I'm looking for...

Anyways, for the past day or so, I've had the burning urge to inject the phrase "[that is] as useless as tits on a firehydrant" into casual conversation, yet have failed to find such an enlightening opportunity.

Currently: Thankful I was able to enjoy a day on the slopes, courtesy of Nicole's generosity.

I Sensed A Challenge...

2006-04-26T22:50:00.000-06:00

Lo and behold, here is my "nerd score" revealed at last:

To be honest, it was quite a few percentage points higher than I anticipated, but that's not to say I'm disappointed with the results. My enviable physical exterior and frat-boy imbibed history have worked quite well at masking the inner-geek that dwells within.

Perhaps if you had the opportunity to marvel at my Star Trek: TNG collector card sets, hermetically sealed within my parents' basement, my results would come as no surprise at all.

Currently: Quite concerned that I've already been up an hour past my bedtime.

"Honey, I'm Ho-ooome!"

2006-04-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

Rocky Mountain House, AB - The very city where my return to Tri-City Drilling began was also home to the end of that full-time relationship. It's Spring Break Up and I'm finally home from the "patch." Sure, I'll exploit that money pool throughout the next few years on a casual basis, but no more 14-days on/7-days off for me!

This doesn't mean I've got the rest of the summer to goof off, of course. I'll be working here in the city to ensure the mound of money I managed to save for the school year doesn't dwindle over the next 4 months - I'd be very upset indeed if the past 8 months of solitude were for naught.

As I haven't played a single game of ball hockey since last August I fully expect I'll be getting a few phone calls over the summer months to suit up...Lord knows we won't be cooped up indoors watching the Oilers tear through the playoffs.

Currently listening to: Middle Class Gangsters - Matthew Good Band

Tyrannosaurus Maizey: 1, Pre-Historic Evergreen: 0

2006-03-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Game, set, and match. What the mighty dinosaurs and the frigid Ice Age could not accomplish, Maizey has done so in less than 24hrs!

As you can imagine, I was quite excited when my Amazing Desktop Dinosaur Plant arrived in the mail. I was absolutely convinced it was the one plant I'd be able to keep alive...so much for that optimistic theory.

Lo, and gaze upon yon utter destruction:

The plant-killer herself. Look at those ravenous eyes!

Fig. A - "Ravenous!"
Currently: Getting ready to head on back to work.

Expired Narcotics

2006-03-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to understand just how Dad must feel at times, though his back has about 30 more years on it than mine.

Bound and determined to do something exciting and memorable during Nicole's days off work, we solidified plans to rent some cross-country skis and amble around Elk Island National Park. After checking the park website it was determined that Maizey couldn't come with us on the trails, so I playfully swept her off the bed for a brief moment of rough stuff before putting her in her kennel. After a few seconds of wriggling fun I was blinded by shooting, stabbing pain and crumpled to the floor in a moaning heap. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to straighten up. It hurt to do anything but stay perfectly still.

I couldn't believe, especially considering the physical work I do, that I'd pulled my back lifting a 50lb dog.

Though I'd just ruined our splendid plans for the day, Nicole was at least level-headed enough to get me to a chiropractor ASAP, who worked me over nicely. It hurt to breathe because several of my ribs were out of place, so he got those back in line with a series of sickening pops. He then twisted and turned me for a few more minutes, despite my whimpering and grimacing.

As of right now I feel okay, since I've been laying around most of the day, but it would sure be better is my Tylenol 3's hadn't expired in early 2004...

Currently: Marveling at my new, virtually un-killable, Pre-Historic Evergreen!

It Truly Is A Dog's Life

2006-03-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

I had originally planned to use this post to bitch about and/or chronicle how exasperated Edmonton's record snowfall had left me, but figured it would be far more pleasant to let you enjoy the sight of Maizey and her new, utterly gargantuan rawhide bone! Behold:

The little monster devoured her first rawhide bone in mere hours, so having been once thwarted, I upped the ante with something a bit more sizeable. It's been nearly a week and she's barely dented it! Ha! That is why I posess the opposible thumbs and the highly developed frontal lobe and the whatnot.

Currently: Getting ready to hop into bed after enjoying a night out at the Princess Theatre.

"Uh, Supernintendo Chalmers!

2006-03-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

Lo and behold, the Universe has seen fit to put the impressionable youths of the nation under my, eventual, educational tutiledge. I've been accepted into the Elementary Education After Degree program at the University of Alberta! Soon it will be time for me to retreat from the "real world" back to the cozy confines of academia...I might as well go shopping for my leather-elbowed tweed sports jacket post haste.

Currently: Working the secretary angle here at Champion Chiropractic.

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean...

2006-03-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

While at work we had a few hours (re: nine of 'em) of sitting around while waiting for the cementers to arrive, so we took it upon ourselves to install a brand new lens cleaning station. Two screws, two nuts, and two washers later, the sparkling white contraption was in place:

Currently listening to: Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body

Interesting Logic

2006-03-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Did God Create Evil?

The university professor challenged his students with this
question:

"Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" the professor asked.

"Yes sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God
created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that
our works define who we are, then God is evil."

The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the
students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was
a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question
professor?"

"Of course," replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor , does cold exist?"

The professor replied "Of course it exists. Have you never been
cold?"

The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist.
According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in
reality the absence of heat.

Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or
transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or
transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total
absence of heat. Cold does not exist. We have created this word
to describe how we feel if we have no heat.

The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir. Darkness does
not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light.
Light, we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's
prism to break white light into many colors and study the various
wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple
ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.
How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the
amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term
used by man to describe what happens when there is no light
present."

Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have
already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of
man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and
violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing
else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least
it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.
It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to
describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the
result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in
his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or
the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name --- Albert Einstein

Currently: Enjoying a quick 32 hours off work before returning to Whitecourt, AB.

'tis Almost Spring

2006-02-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

Another week off has come and gone, and it looks like I'll be heading back up to Grande Prairie for a few more days. I was actually quite shocked to discover just how huge that city really was! I had no idea there were 50,000+ people up there. I was expecting something like Lloydminster, if even that, and instead got something as large and ammeni-plenty as Red Deer.

Anyways, the company website has a "rig finder" service on it, so feel free to check it out if you're ever curious as to just where the hell I'm at. I'm working for Tri-City Drilling on Rig #13.

I'll be back in Edmonton on March 15th, but until then, ciao!

Currently: Over fondu-ed and more than a little sad to be pulling back out of town.

z$zZ$$zz @ time-and-a-half!

2006-02-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

What else did you expect me to be doing for a mere $38.25/hr.? It wasn't all guilt-free sleeping bliss, however, as my arms remained numb for countless minutes after I awoke!

Currently: Wishing I'd kept in better touch over the past 4 months...

The Double-L Word

2005-12-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Another week of freedom (has it been a week already?) has come and gone and it's back to work I go. As usual, there's a long list of things I wanted to do which will remain unaddressed, including adding a few meaningful posts to this here blog. Nevertheless, I'm gone for another two weeks, so...see ya'll around 'crimmis time!

Work Date: Wednesday, December 7 - Wednesday, December 21
Work Location: Lloydminster, AB (approx. 300km away)
Hole Tally: #11
Physical Status: Post-Masseused

Currently: Enjoying my first pint of Edmonton's newest brew, Maverick Supreme Lager.

Pulling Dragons From The Gound

2005-11-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

This past week off has been both a blessing and a bit unfortunate. Instead of heading back to work last Wednesday night, my start date was pushed back to this Saturday night due to a long rig move. It was great that I had the extra time off, and I tried to make the most of it by relaxing (both the mind and the body), tackling some unfinished chores around the house, scheduling more than a few dates with Nicole, and taking Maizey to the off-leash park whenever possible. For the most part, I couldn't be happier with the past ten days.

However, the downside is that I've lost 3-shifts worth of income, which is fairly substantial.

I'll be heading out east to Lloydminster, which means I'll be stopping by Vegreville this afternoon to visit my parents and visit my Baba at the hospital. She drove into a moose just outside of Two Hills, and aside from some cuts and bruises from glass and the airbag, she's in remarkably good shape! I'm sure she'll appreciate the visit, and I'm thankful she's doing so well.

Work Date: Saturday, November 19 - Wednesday, November 30
Work Location: Lloydminster, AB (approx. 300km away)
Hole Tally: #8
Physical Status: Intact

Currently: Burning a swack of CDs for the long days ahead.

Heaven In Alberta

2005-10-26T10:33:00.000-06:00

It truly isn't fair: the week I was back here at home flew by much faster than any single week at work. I've had quite a few things stored in my head to Blog about, but it just seems I never got around to putting thought to digital print.

The good news is that I won't have to drive for half a day to make it to south-eastern Saskatchewan...I guess I'll see y'all in another half-month!

Work Date: Wednesday, October 26 - Wednesday, November 9
Work Location: Champion, AB (approx. 450km away)
Hole Tally: #4
Physical Status: Intact

Currently: Frantically packing the rest of my work supplies.

Forget Tibet, Free China!

2005-09-11T12:20:00.000-06:00

Truly, may God have mercy on their souls, all 1,000,000,000+ of them. I'm not referring to anything the Chinese President has alluded to during his recent visit to Canada, but that's quite possibly because his aides have kept this vital information from him: Nate is teaching English to the Chinese.

Yes, that's right, Master Homobot himself is in the land of rice paddies and bootleg DVDs, seeding the beginnings of the Engrish language into their impressionable minds. Around 5am the other day, he popped onto Messenger to inform me that he and Alicia have been there since the beginning of September.

They were originally planning for Japan, but I guess they got a great offer for China. Nate claims living expenses are ridiculously low, and he's already amassed a collection of bootleg movies and cheap electronics. Drop the kids a line (shasty6969@hotmail.com) as I'm sure they'd appreciate some Canadian contact.

Currently: Trying to install SW: KOTOR 2: TSL.

The Definitive Test?

2005-09-11T00:53:00.000-06:00

I was quite surprised with the results of this thing - it's pretty cool, actually. Give it a shot and see how accurate it is for the rest of you:

www.howsexyareu.com

I apologize for the nudie banner ads, but...have fun!

Currently listening to: Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine.

"The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning"

2005-09-10T01:24:00.000-06:00

That, apparently, is the tag-line for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

While browsing the internet for classic movie trailers, I stumbled upon the one for this first Trek movie, and it piqued my interest. I've only watched the movie once, years ago, despite the fact that I've watched the other nine a few times each. Hell, I've watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan perhaps more times than any other movie (maybe not more than The Monster Squad)...but don't get me started on that epic sci-fi masterpiece.

ST:TMP is not a very good movie. The plot is paper thin, even for a Star Trek movie, and it's pacing is several factors slower than 2001: A Space Odyssey, believe it or not. For 1979 it looks pretty good, but the first hour is really nothing more than wide-angle shots of the Enterprise to variations of the orchestrated theme. In the meantime, a doe-eyed Kirk stares in wonder. Zzzzzzz....

Which is exactly why I rented the Special Directors Edition the other night - to put me to sleep. Mission accomplished, though I had nightmares that I too was unable to logically conclude that V---ger was simply Voyager covered by a bit of space dust.

Bah!

Currently: The victim of attending another crappy Edmonton Eskimos loss.

T-Minus...

2005-09-08T01:01:00.000-06:00

...a few days and counting. I'll be getting that call from Tri-City Drilling any day now, so don't be alarmed if I sort of drop off the face of the planet at a moment's notice.

For my glorious return to the life of a planet/nature destroyer/rapist, I've decided I'll be chronicling my journey. It started out that I was going to track my spending and expenses, right down to the penny, but then I totally got OCD. I'll be logging my mileage, each town I stay in, how many wells I help drill...basically everything I can think of. It will be a body of work only fascinating to myself, but it'll keep my mind active. It's a shame I'm not a PhD student doing an ethnography on rig workers.

Methinks I've taken one too many quantitative social research classes.

Currently listening to: Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times.

Lady Luck

2005-09-05T15:35:00.000-06:00

Last night, by far, was the most expensive night of poker I've ever experienced, despite the fact that I was not playing for money. Things wrapped up fairly late, and I was in a bit of a hurry to get home, so I failed to remember a steel pole was waiting at the end of the driveway.

You can imagine my car didn't stand a chance:

Car Damage 01
Car Damage 02
Car Damage 03
Car Damage 04
Car Damage 05
Car Damage 06

Slowly but surely, I'm making sure my car won't be worth a penny.

Currently: Thinking that those pop stains on the ceiling aren't quite so bad anymore...

GTA: Bellamy Hill

2005-08-31T22:31:00.000-06:00

Personally, I though it was both exhilarating and cool to witness a $60,000 Beamer get smashed to bits in front of our house. I can feel no guilt about this because no one was killed, nor was the car stolen...just some drunk rich kids who demolished their own property. I got to be on Citytv and fill out a police report, which simply adds to the coolness factor of the whole evening.

On Monday evening, the ante was raised further in our quiet little neighbourhood. As I stood in the kitchen I distinctly heard someone knocking on the front door. Maizey started barking so I peeked out the window to see who was there. Nobody. Curious, and confused, I opened the door and stuck my head out...still no one. I then noticed a kid across the street running for cover, and for an instant I figured I might have been pranked. Then Nicole asked me if I'd heard the gun shots and seen the cars speeding away. Apparently I failed to see the black car riddled with bullet holes speed past our home.

Let's see. Someone fires off a few rounds on a semi-automatic, and I stick my melon outside to see what's going on. Surely that debunks the "survival of the fittest" myth.

So within a week, Nicole and I witness two newsworthy events, and this time she gets to fill out the police report. The camera crews from all the stations were parked outside our place, but they refrained from interviewing anyone - I guess it's not a safe idea to put drive-by-shooting witnesses on the late-night news.

Nicole and I are betting we'll witness a stabbing next, perhaps amongst the various vagrants who camp out in the bushes lining our property.

We've really got to learn to keep a camera on us at all times!

Currently: Enjoying the freedom of not applying for another year of student loans.

Go Outdoors

2005-08-26T22:15:00.000-06:00

It's very tempting to describe Edmonton as a cold, dirty, concrete wasteland, and if all you see are the outskirts and main roadways, I wouldn't fault you for reaching such a conclusion. The refineries are just plain disgusting and there's very little green along the Whitemud or Yellowhead.

Living in the downtown Rivervalley this past year, however, has forced me to see Edmonton in a completely different light. Quite frankly, the Rivervalley trail system is amazing and there are a tonne of decent parks to be found. Just this evening Nicole and I were looking for the Terwillegar Park off-leash area but ended up wandering around some awesome trails. There were old-growth trees too large to get your arms around...with a bit of effort, you could easily imagine you were in B.C., or even a park in the Rockies. At the very least, all the sights, sounds, and smells of the city were absent, making for a very enjoyable hike.

So, if you haven't done so this summer, get out there and enjoy all the free relaxation opportunities the city has to offer. Once you get out there, you just might be surprised at how much there is to explore.

Currently listening to: The Eskies battling the Alouettes on streaming 630 Ched.

C://windows_xp.err

2005-08-26T10:50:00.000-06:00

Okay, so Windows didn't exactly self-destruct, but things haven't been running very smoothly on my computer for quite some time. I mean, geeze, it's been almost half a year since I wiped my HD and re-installed XP from scratch.

So that was part of my morning, backing up my files and downloading XP updates after the install. So fresh. So squeaky clean. This baby'll be running great for the next few days!

Currently: Fearing that I can't find my "back-up copy" of Office 2003.

Old Man Skinner

2005-08-24T12:50:00.000-06:00

Residing in a house and having to pay all the various bills which that entails, has an interesting effect on one's youthful, carefree lifestyle.

Anticipating our very first, personalized, water and gas bills, Nicole and I have been dreading what they may contain. So in the meantime, if you're cold, DON'T you dare touch that thermostat...put on a sweater, or two. As for the electricity, you'd better be turning off those lights when you leave a room, and HEY!, why do you have them on anyways...the sun is still up! Sit by a window.

It's not exactly like I'm responsible for cracking the whip, though. I believe Nicole 's stated, "I'd rather freeze to death than pay a $300 gas bill."

So as I deposited several large stones in the toilet's cistern, I wondered, if I'm this miserly at 24, I can't wait to see what I'll be like at 80!

Currently: Understanding completely why Clint and Tara's home is an ice palace.

Destruction Derby

2005-08-21T23:57:00.000-06:00

Apparently Nicole and I are news-worthy incident magnets. Specifically, we always seem to witness horrible accidents covered by A-Channel/CityTV. I was interviewed and got to appear on the evening news as one of those "Geeze, I can't believe what just happened!" idiots. That didn't stop me from taping it, of course.

In case you didn't catch the 11:30 news, a beautiful BMW was totaled right in front of our house. Nicole and I were just pulling up to the intersection of Bellamy Hill and 99 Avenue, when the sound of a revving engine and screaming tires alerted me to proceed with caution. Suddenly the Beamer popped into view, flew up onto the curb, spun within metres of my car, nailed the pole in front of our house, then swerved back across all 4 lanes and crashed head-on with yet another giant, steel pole!

It was all a blur of silver car and flying debris.

I put my car in park and decided it would be best to see if the people in the car needed help, when two guys in their mid-20's stumbled out of the wreckage and then fled into the bushes! I didn't quite expect that to happen, so I immediately called 911 and reported the whole event.

Within minutes all of Bellamy Hill was filled with police, fire trucks, and a whole crowd of curious neighbours and rubber-neckers. Since I was one of the few people who witnessed the entire thing, I got to fill out a police report, and my description of the fleeing car wreckers was pretty close to the two guys they managed to nab.

It's scary to think that Nicole and I avoided being hit by mere seconds...I'm pretty sure that BMW would've sliced right through my car, especially with how fast it was flying. It got my adrenaline pumping, that's for sure.

Currently listening to: The peace and quiet of the house when both dogs (Maizey and Babie) are sleeping.

Settling In

2005-08-18T00:29:00.000-06:00

It's been just a bit over two weeks, but this little rental house of ours is starting to feel like home. Sure, there's still plenty of boxes that need unpacking, not all of our things have found a permanent home (re: clothing) and there are still minor repairs which need to be done, but the ol' house is downright cozy. With a countertop there, a few shelves here, and a couple nail holes filled in, the place'll be looking sweet.

The weather outside has been miserable this week, so we now know, for a fact, that the heating system works great. What we'll find out in time, I suppose, is how well the house is insulated. A few -40C mid-January weeks will reveal all.

Over the weekend I was able to pick up a new pair of glasses to replace the worn-out, scratched, and dog-chewed spectacles I was wearing before. My new Ray-Ban's are similar in style, but fit a bit smaller. It's great to now be able to look directly at a light source and not have scratched lenses refract that light in a multi-directed explosion. Check 'em out:

Currently: Wishing I had more/any deskspace by the computer.

PRL Blog-a-thon

2005-08-16T13:10:00.000-06:00

Ooooohhh...my legs are sore as Hell thanks to my netminding duties on Sunday. It's rough, even on my relatively young body, to play once a month and pay little heed to stretching techniques either before or after.

I nearly cried when I had to climb one set of stairs to the Lab.

Currently: Mixing "leisure time" with "work time."

The [K]ome-back Kid

2005-08-15T12:08:00.000-06:00

Despite some initial frustrations in getting ball hockey started on time, the evening played out rather nicely. Having not played in nearly a month (there were cobwebs in my goalie equipment!), still slightly pissed off from the pre-game confusion, not given a single warm-up shot, and facing a decade-tuned Vegreville squad, I completely self-destructed in a quick 10-1 loss.

Thankfully, things improved from there. I picked up victories in the next two games (10-7, 10-9), where the final game was a come-from-behind victory that saw my team down 9-7 and then score 3 unanswered goals for the sweet, sweet win. It's not very often that comebacks occur, especially when the other team is one goal away from ending it.

It's nice to see that what was perhaps my final Sunday of ball hockey, before heading back to work with Tri-City Drilling, ended on a hard-earned, winning note.

Speaking of returning to work, it's still slowly sinking in that I've written my final UofA exam as an undergraduate...completing my degree has been such a looooonggg process that I was truly starting to feel there was NO END to it. My time at the University of Alberta has been the source of both my greatest achievement and shame.

I went from nearly failing out of school entirely, to now flirting with the possibility of convocating with Distinction. Ultimately, I refused to give up on what's, arguably, an unmarketable Sociology/Anthropology Bachelor of Arts degree. For that I can be proud of my accomplishments.

On the other hand, I tend to be very hard on myself when it comes to failure or not living up to perceived expectations, and for every 10 things I might've done right, a single negative point is capable of overshadowing everything. I dwell on my mistakes and shortcomings - the "outta's" and "shoulda's" of the past years. It frustrates me to no end that I have such a hard time seeing that I've done well, made the most of an unfortunate and complicated situation, but instead constantly fear that I've been a burden and embarrassment to the loved ones in my life.

It's so easy to feel incompetent when you see the thousands, upon thousands of students who finish up in four years, graduate, and start working, whereas every similar stage has never been easy for me. I see people my age, and younger, with decent paying jobs/careers, their own homes, fiances and wives, whereas I've been trying to live off ~$5/day for the past half-decade and depend on others just to eat on a daily basis.

Words cannot express how thankful I am to Nicole, my family, and friends for supporting me. I get overwhelmed just thinking about the confidence everyone has had in me, even when I'd convinced myself that I was an unnecessary burden, undeserving of second-, third-, fourth-(and counting) chances. Thank you. Thank you all so very much.

With the coming of September comes the beginning of the next true stage in my life, and I like to think of it as the starting point for giving something back to all those who have supported me. My time at university, especially the last two years, has necessitated a focus on me, where I was the centre of focus, often to the sacrifice and detriment of those around me. It's time to get to work. It's time to shoulder my share (and more) of the responsibilities in my life and support those who've postponed and given-up so much for me.

In the short-term it means having to go back to a job which keeps me away 21-days of the month and progressively breaks my body and subdues my spirits, but that's a personal sacrifice that pales in comparison to all I've received.

Currently: Watching the dog chew on her new squeak toy.

Wooooooooooooooo!

2005-08-12T14:12:00.000-06:00

I've just finished writing my last University of Alberta undergraduate exam!

Currently: Astonished, quite frankly.

Sneak Peek

2005-07-26T15:28:00.000-06:00

Here it is, a wonderful satellite image of our new rental house! It's that lone house, surrounded by trees, smack dab in the middle of the picture. When I picked up the keys this morning, the city property manager confirmed that it was built in 1930...so I was very close when I guessed it was nearly 80 years old!

Currently: Putting the finishing touches on my Philosophy assignment (The problem of "free will" and "determinism").

Construct-a-Resume

2005-07-25T22:46:00.000-06:00

While myself, Nicole, and Ryan were enjoying an impromptu "date night" at West Edmonton Mall, the topic of past jobs came up. Ryan had a rather impressive list, while Nicole's wasn't nearly as long, but I suppose impressive in its own way. I didn't pipe up because my brain had seized up trying to mentally recount all my previous job placements.

During class I managed to come up with the following list, which I think is complete, though by no means chronological:

01. Vegreville and District CO-OP (Stockboy/Cashier)
02. Shaw Conference Centre (Bartender)
03. Save-on-Foods (Stockboy/Cashier)
04. Baskin Robbins (Ice Cream Jockey)
05. Tri-City Drilling (x2) (Roughneck/Motorman)
06. The Old Wood Factory (Construction Labourer)
07. New Dimensions (Construction Labourer)
08. *a third construction company that I can't recall the name of
09. *a landscaping company that I also can't recall the name of
10. Earl's (Line Cook)
11. The Keg (Line Cook)
12. UofA Population Research Laboratory (CATI Interviewer)
13. Advanis Field Research (Survey Interviewer)
14. Prime Oilfield (Pipeline Labourer)
15. New Creations (Clerk)
16. Vandelay Industries (Latex)

The list is lengthy, to be sure, but I have been working since I was 14, and there were a few times I was holding down 2-3 jobs at once. There's been other things I've been paid to do (website design, yard-work, etc.), but I wouldn't consider them official jobs. It's interesting to see the HUGE differences in workplace demands if you were to compare Baskin Robbins to Tri-City Drilling. What about the rest of you? How many different jobs have you had?

Currently: Reducing my 750-word paper to the 250-word limit.

Dat Dere's Purdy

2005-07-25T01:11:00.000-06:00

I've been slaving away on my group presentation for tomorrow afternoon. As well as doing my fair share of research, I'm also handling the website, and took it upon myself to put the finishing touches on both the class hand-out and the PowerPoint presentation.

The website is very simple, and I pretty much just used Adobe Illustrator, text, transparencies, and abundant drop shadows. It still looks pleasing to the eyes, so you should go and check it out!

Calling all Campers

2005-07-24T01:13:00.000-06:00

I've already spoken to some of you guys, and I'm bound to be giving you a follow-up call very soon, but I'd better mention it here: myself, Nicole, and her former Lister Hall roommate will be going camping during the first weekend of August.

Our plans are to spend a few evenings in Kananaskis, August 4-7. All the sites we'd like to check out are "first come, first serve" so we're hoping a mid-week start to our adventure will increase our odds of snagging a sweet site. A few of you have already mentioned you'd like to give it a shot, so don't be afraid to let us know for certain.

Currently: Overloaded with party "finger food."

"As you command..."

2005-07-23T23:47:00.000-06:00

Ah yes, one can only hope the upcoming Transformers movie will be 1/10th as awesome as this scenario!

Currently listening to: CBC Radio 2

Bitch and Complain

2005-07-21T23:16:00.000-06:00

The attendance for my Philosophy class this evening was particularly low..including myself, there was only 6 students. Since I was curious, I asked the professor how many students are necessary before a particular class gets cancelled. The answer: 12

A mere 9 students actually signed up for the course, but the voracity of some students' need to take the course was too great to oppose. I, for one, was extremely vocal with the Department that I be allowed to take the class immediately. If it had been cancelled, the scenario would have been disastrous for me:

1. I would've been 1 course (3 credits) short of my degree.
2. I would've had to choose between;
a) giving up on my degree entirely,
b) putting it off for yet another year while I headed back to work,
c) or enduring another 4 months of student poverty to complete one damn class.

Needless to say, I would have been left pissed-off, despondent, and more than a little depressed.

Currently: Getting ready to put the dog to bed.

A Point of Clarification

2005-07-20T14:45:00.000-06:00

I'm not entirely sure how this idea has managed to spread amongst family and friends, but it must be noted, Nicole and I are NOT being evicted from our current residence. In a sense, we're moving out before such a thing can occur...

While debating whether or not to sign another 1-year lease, we asked the owners of our condo if we would be able to get a "small" dog; they countered by saying they'd go as far as a cat. It was on that point we decided to pass on re-signing, and explore other options, notably our desire for a house. The condo owners are currently unawares that we've had a dog for almost 2 months, and that's just how we'd like it.

We've been quite sneaky, actually. They've come around the apartment a few times to show it to potential renters, so we've needed to hide all evidence of the dog. The deception requires selective hiding of toys and food, scent masking, and among other small details, hiding Maizey - in a pinch, my car works for 30 minutes or so.

Currently: Wishing we had more moving boxes.

Philosophically Speaking...

2005-07-19T22:18:00.000-06:00

...it's been quite some time since I've taken a philosophy course, but it's funny how quickly old-knowledge resurfaces. In today's class we were debating proofs for the existence of God, and I'm sure Pascal's Wager is a concept you're all familiar with. It states that if you were to analyse your options in regard to belief in God carefully (or belief in any other religious system with a similar reward and punishment scheme), you would come out with the following possibilities:

- You may believe in God, and God exists, in which case you go to heaven.
- You may believe in God, and God doesn't exist, in which case you gain nothing.
- You may not believe in God, and God doesn't exist, in which you gain nothing again.
- You may not believe in God, and God may exist, in which case you will be punished.

From these possibilities, and the principles of statistics, Pascal deduced that it would be better to believe in God unconditionally. It's a classic application of game theory to itemize options and payoffs and is valid within its assumptions. Here's a simple table that shows the values assigned to each possible outcome:

	God exists (G)	God does not exist (~G)
Belief in God (B)	+ ∞ (heaven)	0
Non-belief in God (~B)	− ∞ (hell)	0

Of course, Pascal's Wager is not an argument for the existence of God, per se. He concluded that since we can never know for sure, and that our minds were absolutely incapable of truly comprehending God (or infinity, or perfection) we'd gain nothing by debating it.

What this post's really about, is that the entire class exercise brought me back to a previous Risk, Choice, and Rationality course where our first decision matrix was the Prisoner's Dilemma.

For a bit of fun, you can follow this link to play the game with a computer. Enjoy!

Currently: Sitting amongst moving boxes full of books.

Defend the Turf

2005-07-16T13:10:00.000-06:00

I tend to have the worse possible luck when it comes to paying to attend a major sporting event. Not simply attending them, mind you, but when I've shelled out some cash to do so. Quite frankly, the game usually sucks, and last night was no exception.

Taking advantage of a 2-for-1 deal, I picked up some tickets for the Eskimos/Blue Bombers games at Commonwealth last night. Things started out strange when the ticket office insisted the only two "coupled" tickets were waaaayyyy up in row 71. That's pretty damn high.

Instead of explaining how painful the game was to watch, I'll let these quotes paint the picture:

"We couldn't get any kind of rhythm going," said Ray, who finished 28 of 48 for 335 yards and no touchdowns in a generally sloppy game before 35,455 at Commonwealth Stadium.

The Eskimos (3-1), who were favoured to win by as much as 20 points, still generated 412 yards of net offence to Winnipeg's 230, and had the ball for 17 more minutes. The last time Edmonton won a game scoring 20 or fewer points was July 13, 2001 - a 13-11 win over Saskatchewan.

Ray, who entered the game leading the CFL in compilations and passing yards, threw a pair of first-half interceptions and was sacked twice as the Eskimos held a 7-4 lead at the half.

The Edmonton Eskimos' kicker for the last 14 seasons missed three field goals to finish four- for-seven but rebounded to kick a 23-yarder with no time left in the fourth quarter as the Edmonton Eskimos salvaged a 14-12 win over Winnipeg in a sloppy Friday night.

Yeah...but we still won, I suppose, so that was worth catching pneumonia from the drizzling rain.

Currently listening to: Green Day - American Idiot

Mmmm...Brains!

2005-07-15T00:10:00.000-06:00

First of all, I'm digging my site's slightly updated template. Secondly, there's nothing finer than eating waffles and bangers before bed!

It's been an interesting week, with a few news tidbits sprinkled here and there. The house that Nicole and I will soon be renting has gotten a bit of a face-lift. A landscaping crew has trimmed all the trees and bushes, mowed the lawn and emptied the gutters...which is awesome because I don't own a ladder or a lawnmower. As well, the painters have been by to spruce up the bedrooms and hallways. The next stage will be the cleaners (apparently the previous tenants were heavy smokers) after which the city will hand the keys over to us! The sooner the better, I say, since that'll give us plenty of time to pack things up and carry them across the street.

I participated in an MRI/Schizophrenia study this morning. To clarify, I was part of the healthy control group. I'd signed up for it almost 2 months ago, but the researchers had to wait on the MRI technicians to update the hardware. It was a pretty cool experience, that's for sure! They ask you to lie perfectly still, as even shifting a few millimeters can screw up their imaging - then they clamp your head into a vice, pretty much negating your ability to do so. As they mapped my grey matter, I performed a series of tests, involving pushing a button to match the corresponding dot on the screen. The whole process took about 40 minutes, and I'll admit, there were times when I was feeling a bit claustrophobic. I also learned that MRI machines are very loud and make sounds that range from thumping bass to lazer beam sounds to parking garage gate buzzers. Best of all, I got to see the scans of my brain (thankfully, everything was where it should be) and they were impressed at how symmetrical it was. I have a handsome brain, I suppose.

As I left the hospital, I was then accosted on the street by a reporter from Dose, and was interviewed for their random street-talkers section. I answered a few questions on "strip club etiquette" so it looks like I'll have some newspaper clippings that mom will be proud to display on the fridge...

Currently: Praying that Maizey sleeps-in later than 4am today!

Quite the Conundrum

2005-07-12T15:01:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had to complete a written assignment, worth 10% of your final grade, which can only be a mere 200-250 words!? Believe me, it's an academic exercise no less demanding than a 20-page dissertation. The sheer volume of information I desire to convey on the topic at hand is continually being constrained by the format, and the selective process of pairing down my argument is frustratingly exhaustive.

If I could travel back in time a few years and encounter my former self, I'd whoop my ass medieval-style. Damn me!

Word Count: 91

See! This mini rant is almost half the length of the infernal assignment!

Currently: Cowering in a corner of Knowledge Common, wishing evil upon my Philosophy professor.

"I, Alex-KABOOOOMMMM-andra..."

2005-07-12T02:10:00.000-06:00

Hey, hey! Here's a few wedding photos from Saturday. I thought my Shaw webspace was much larger than the actual 20MB, so it looks like I'll need to distribute the 15min (150MB+) digital wedding video another way. Mass CD-R distribution, perhaps?

Currently: Debating to study for a bit more or, say, sleep...I'd better hit that Descartes.

Home: Total Awesome

2005-07-06T23:51:00.000-06:00

The first week of July has already been quite eventful, with a wedding yet to come on the weekend. Nicole and I made the decision to move from Renaissance Place at the end of the month, and have been successful in being approved for a house!

Not to buy a house, but to rent one...which is similar to buying one, when you consider the rent you pay, except you still own nothing. The house is basically right across the street from our current place, meaning we get to stay in the downtown rivervalley area! Not only that, but moving our stuff will be a snap. The house has what's commonly referred to as a "lot of character," meaning you'll either be repulsed by it or appreciate its inherent charm. I think it's great that the city of Edmonton owns the property and not some crack-house slum lord. The inside is in good repair, new furnace/water heater, paint, etc. They've maintained it very well.

I'm absolutely stoked about the idea of us having our own little home in the heart of the city! I'm confident we'll convert it into quite the cozy place. Maizey, especially, will appreciate the huge yard we've got, though I might be cursing it as I push around the lawn mower...

Currently: Reading the grande finale of Gregg's break-up letter to Jeremy; finally severing the ties of his homo-erotic fascination with the D-Man, and acquiescing to the idea of his marriage to Alex. Congrats!

Majestic

2005-07-03T23:29:00.000-06:00

My, oh my, what a great time we had over the Canada Day long-weekend in Jasper! Alex and Jeremy truly struck upon a great idea when they decided to celebrate their final weekend of singlehood with a camping trip.

There were many highlights, from closed hotsprings to conquering a mountain's summit to nearly dying on the highway trying to catch a glimpse of a gargantuan mountain vagina. Though I was only camping for a few days, I still can't wait to sleep in my own bed, so I'll re-iterate some weekend memories once I've rested up.

Currently: Browsing through all the great photos I snapped over the past few days...

Raging River

2005-06-21T02:12:00.000-06:00

If you happened to be watching A-Channel News @ 11 you might have briefly heard Paul Mennier mention there was a bit of excitement down by the flooded dock of the Edmonton Queen. Well, here's what happened:

It just so happened that Nicole and I were taking a walk through the Rivervalley to gawk at the flood waters, and on our journey back home, we came upon the dock. There was quite a few people there taking pictures and videos, an EPS presence, and A-Channel was all set up in front of the flooded scene to do a live report for the evening news. Just as I'd finished taking a video of the river, I casually noticed a drunken old man standing close to Paul Mennier and the "Police Line" barricade tape. I figured he was just rambling when he said something to the effect of "You want a story? I'll give you a story!" then took off his jacket and started walking towards the river.

Paul started screaming at the guy to stop, then started screaming for the police officer, who was casually leaning against his cruiser talking to his buddies. The officer eventually ran down to the man and it looked like things were under control (the drunk slowed down and faced the officer) when things went wrong very quickly. The man darted for the bank, the officer tried to tackle him, and then yelled out for help.

In the few instances it took us onlookers to fully grasp the situation, and even start to react, the old guy was in the icy waters and disappeared from sight. A half dozen of us immediately rushed down the path alongside the river to try and see what'd happened to him - I was running so fast my cell phone launched into the bushes. I got to the end of the Queen and the guy was nowhere in sight! A few anxious seconds later, his head popped up from under the water, and the crew of the EQ threw him a life preserver.

At this point he was still 20 metres from the shore, and floating past tremendously fast. He struggled to grasp the preserver then continued to speed down the river past the pedestrian bridge. More cops came running by as we directed them where to go; heck, Paul Mennier himself stopped to ask me what had happened! The whole fiasco was the damnedest thing I'd ever witnessed and the adrenaline was still pumping when I walked back to the dock to rendezvous with Nicole.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but it's frustrating to think why I didn't do more. Things like this happen in a flash, and to be honest, my initial reaction was hesitation. Could I have rushed down to help the cop in time? Was there something I could have done to reach the freezing, drunken man from the flooded shore? They always tell you to leave things like this up to the professionals, but I was right there and a man's life was hanging in the balance. I can rest easier knowing they eventually pulled him out of the river, alive, but it was more than a little unsettling to witness.

Currently: Programming the coffee maker. Will we have brew awaiting @ 7am!?

Bark-o-Zap

2005-06-20T01:48:00.000-06:00

So, how was your Father's Day? Nicole and I went over to Vegreville to visit the parents over a fine steak barbeque. Mom picked out these awesome steak medallions wrapped in bacon, 3-types of shish kabobs, and naturally, stuffed us full of countless side dishes. Dad got to kick back and relax as I worked the grill (hey, he's allowed one day of tranquility per year, I suppose) but those M&M steaks were so tender and flavourful that I couldn't take much credit for how perfect they turned out.

Little Maizey got to meet her "cousin" Babie for the first time. I brought along the camera for the occasion, but was too absent-minded to take a single picture. Babie's got 10 years on her, so wasn't as much in the mood for youthful playing, but at least they didn't attack each other. A few well-timed growls put Maizey in her place, that's for sure.

There were two unexpected excitements during the visit: 1. Maizey dug up one of Mom's flower beds, and, 2. Maizey managed to get her head stuck under the fence gate. We actually needed to take the gate apart to get her freed, so that was a little scary. It also explained, though, just why she was making so much noise!

Finally, it looks like we'll be picking up an electronic Bark Collar to train Maizey not to make so much noise while we're gone. Our neighbours in the apartment building are getting a bit upset, and we've already had one anonymous letter slipped under our door. Here's hoping that the collar works, or I imagine we'll be living on the street come next month...

Currently: Realizing that I've turned into one of those annoying dog owners who only has dog-related news to talk about.

The Answer

2005-06-16T23:52:00.000-06:00

Too much free time on your hands? Got a lot of nice stuff you'd rather do away with? Well, my friends, the solution is simple! Get a puppy.

Now don't be mistaken, I'm very fond of our little scamp, and at 3 months old, it's to be expected that she'll be stirring up havoc and mayhem. For the most part, I think Nicole and I are doing a fairly decent job within the environment we're provided; a small, white carpeted apartment. In less than a week, we've got the pup trained to "go" outside and if stuck indoors, on these inviting grass-scented training pads. Accidents have been few and far between, but I don't think dabbing puppy piss out of dense carpeting is a pleasant experience at any frequency.

Her teeth are mini razor blades, and make short work out of anything not constructed from solid granite. Shoes, area rugs, furniture, floor lamps, electrical cords, even the TV cable outlet in the wall have fallen victim to her miniature mandibles. It's a great lesson to learn before producing offspring - anything within reach will be destroyed, and expensive and/or nice things will be the first to go.

But despite all the destruction, the reeking puddles, the barking, and the energetic nipping and biting, it's a great experience, and once she settles down and finally falls asleep at your feet, all is forgiven.

Currently: Enjoying a fine Stella Artois as I relax before bed...

Rendezvous with Vegreville

2005-06-09T23:30:00.000-06:00

So I was laying on the floor in the middle of the living room, in what Nicole described as an impossible contortion of elbows and angles, when the good ol' Pysanka showed up on CBC Newsworld. It was an episode of Culture Shock and they had cameras going around Central/Eastern Alberta and documenting all the strange, large Ukrainian monuments. Vegreville clearly took centre stage, overshadowing that town with the giant pyrogy and Mundare with its giant ring of kubasa. Scott's dad was even interviewed to relate the importance of the attraction to the community, and I even learned something new - that the design of the egg was the first use of sophisticated computer graphics!

I seem to have phased back into a sci-fi reading kick as I've dusted off my Rama collection. The first book, Rendezvous with Rama was just as good, if not better, than I remembered. It's very easy to get wrapped up in its story and read the whole thing in one sitting - you just feel compelled to see what's gonna be revealed on the next page. From there, I hit Rama II, which was published 16 years later, and while it was still decent, it contained a lot of stereotypical soap opera crap. Love triangles, over-blown characters, numerous and unnecessary side stories and plots, etc. It did, however, make me want to tackle The Garden of Rama, despite remembering that this series continues to get more absurd with each book. I guess not absurd, per se, but the sense of wonder and discovery in the first book is never really recaptured or built upon adequately.

Currently: Ready to hop into bed...right after I take the puppy out for a walk

This is a Test...

2005-06-09T00:19:00.000-06:00

...just updating some Blogger settings. I've got studying to do, so of course this is the best time to start fiddling around with my website minutiae.

Currently: Cramming a half-semester's worth of Karl Marx into my noggin'

The Damned

2005-06-08T23:23:00.000-06:00

If it's true that one can judge a society by how their lowliest member is treated, then things aren't looking so hot for us folks with Arts degrees.

Case in point, the status of the washrooms on the UofA campus. The Tory building is one of the buildings used primarily by the Faculty of Arts, and oh! the horrors you'll witness if you venture into its lavatories. Broken faucets with only cold water, cubicles without locks, cake-less urinals, and stacks of brown paper towels to dry your hands. The acrid stench of stale urine is enough to literally peel the paint off the walls. I do not believe they actually clean these washrooms - they're free-range cess-pools. (Can I use that many hyphens in a row?)

In comparison, the attached Business Building has washrooms more elegant and space-aged than Bill Gates' house. Motion sensor toilets, urinals, sink faucets, and paper towel dispensers! All the stalls have functional locks, and there's not a stink to be smelt. Heck, even all the lighting works. Seeing as how both buildings are about the same age, it makes me wonder why all my crumbling Arts buildings haven't been renovated.

Well, no, that's not true...I don't wonder why. I know why. And it's unfortunate indeed.

Currently: Placing free long-distance calls to Tijuana, just for the hell of it.

The Future is Friendly(er)

2005-06-04T01:23:00.000-06:00

Yes my friends, a great day is finally upon us. Nicole and I have utterly rid ourselves of Telus! We're now slaves to a different corporate entity - Shaw and their almighty digital phone service.

The world seems a brighter, happier place today.

Currently: Taking the new internet service for a test-drive.

Always Swallow

2005-05-31T17:01:00.000-06:00

Take heed and adhere to this pearl of wisdom: always swallow your food before you blow your nose. Trust me, failing to do so is not a pleasant experience. I'd gotten an order of rice from Edo Japan with a bit of sukiyaki sauce on it, and in mid-chew my nose started to run something fierce. I honked into a tissue and amidst the virulrous goo were whole grains of rice...

...still coated in sukiyaki sauce, I believe. If only I had my digital camera with me.

Currently: Lazing around in the glorious, warming sun.

Queen Elizabeth II: Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-24T00:02:00.000-06:00

It was a rainy, dreary day. The thermostat barely pushed double digits and a piercing wind howled from all directions. What better English weather to greet the Queen with in the City of Champions? Like all true-blooded members of the Commonwealth, Nicole and I made the most of this occasion - we headed straight for the mall to catch a matinee.

At Nicole's suggestion we went to see Revenge of the Sith, and somewhere between my constantly dripping nose and hallucinogenic fever, I was pretty sure I was seeing a decent movie. By far the best of the new trilogy. Upon returning home we then watched A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. That's a whole lotta sci-fi for one evening, and I couldn't be more proud of my sweetie for initiating it. It would appear the geek-factor of this relationship doesn't balance quite as far to my side as I'd previously imagined!

And now I'm off to bed. I'm fully in the grips of an unforgiving cold, and being the big baby that I immediately turn into at the first sign of sickness, all I want to do is pound back the over-the-counters and crawl into bed.

Currently listening to: My heartbeat throb in the side of my head.

Beautiful Day

2005-05-23T12:32:00.000-06:00

Another weekend has come and gone, and that means some updated ball hockey stats: matter-of-factly. The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Sunday and we had a whopping 11 players come out. I flirted with my first shutout ever during the first game, eventually winning 10-1. The other team scored on their last shot of the game, though we came right back to finish it up.

The second game, though a losing cause at 10-9, was perhaps the best. The teams were very evenly matched, and both Russ and I managed to pull off some sweet moves. I'd say it was my most complete game in net...now if only I can stop those simple shots from the centre line, all will be well.

By the third game everyone was pretty wiped out, and the sun was beating down even hotter than ever. Even the earlier cloud coverage cowered away from the burning rays. I spotted the other team a 4-goal lead, early in to the game, though the boys managed to rally and pull out a victory. Ha-zah!

Currently: Suffering from a sinus cold...so very, very stuffy. Creativity zapped.

CPAC Tango

2005-05-18T23:41:00.000-06:00

Since Nicole and I regained cable, I'm happy to report that for the most part, I've done fairly well at limiting my daily viewing. There's honestly been days where, when I've turned on the idiot-box, it simply served as background noise.

When I do watch, however, I tend to zone in on The Discovery Channel, The Weather Network, and the news. There's no sports highlights to speak of, and aside from a bit of Monday Raw or Sunday evening cartoons, very little of the programming interests me in the least. Most notably, our humble abode remains a Reality TV-Free Zone at all times, no exceptions.

Perhaps it's the palpitable excitement in the air, but all this craziness going on within our federal government actually makes for good entertainment. I've been watching CPAC for almost 2 hours now, this evening, and boy do those politicians enjoy tearing in to one another. It's all screaming, and innuendo and shrewdly veiled threats...and then question period officially begins! I don't believe they're actually getting much accomplished, but damn if it's not enjoyable to watch.

Currently: Contemplating having some more pizza mere minutes before going to bed.

Forget the Sith

2005-05-16T00:05:00.000-06:00

Sure, we all know that the final Star Wars movie will be coming out next week, but I'm of the opinion that this gangsta rap video reveals everything you need to know about this fantasy universe.

You can watch the original, which has to be at least 4 years old, and you can also check out the awesome updated version - same catchy tune, but with fancy new animations.

How's about that "most talented" Team Canada ever, eh?

My Poor Body

2005-05-13T23:32:00.000-06:00

It seems I'm continually finding new ways to torture my poor, youthful body. Nicole's got me hooked on this crazy cultish fad called "running" and with very little preparation, I seem to enjoy throwing my body in to a few games of ball hockey every 30 days or so.

Tonight ended up being absolutely beautiful weather-wise, with little wind, a warm temperature, and not a cloud in the sky. We managed to get 1.5 games played in 2.5 hours, and if it wasn't for that damn setting sun, I'm sure we would have played quite a bit longer. It seems that the gap between each outing gets longer and longer, so I'm usually so excited to get the opportunity to suit up that I just want to keep playing - regardless of wins or losses. Mentally I seem to get down on myself for piling up the losses, but counting the two tonight, that only leaves me at two games below .500! Hell, a 50/50 chance, that's not so bad!

Anyways, things tend to get a bit silly once the sun sets and you're still playing. Not being able to see the ball once it's in motion is a bit like lightsabre training while blindfolded. You simply have to give in to The Force and hope to hell the ball hits you.

I'd best get off to bed...I've got to pick Nicole up from work in 5 hours, run 6km, sleep for a few more hours, then be at work for 10am. I think my legs are starting to burn already.

Currently: Watching some Discovery Channel after getting the cable hooked back up! We barely lasted 6 weeks without it!

Mrs. Footz Would Be Rolling In Her Grave...

2005-05-06T00:52:00.000-06:00

...if she were dead, I suppose. And, you know, if she didn't just roll up and disintegrate like the Wicked Witch of the East at the beginning of Oz.

I was re-reading my post and was appalled to discover how poor my grammer was. Nearly every sentence jumped between present and past tense, not only from one sentence to the next, but also from within!

How on Earth did I get such great marks on 6-years worth of university essays? You know, aside from sleeping with all my professors?

The Summer of Kris

2005-05-06T00:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, I might not be sleeping in all day, lounging around the apartment in my underpants, or going on impromptu tours of the Legislature, but I do intend to enjoy each and every moment of it. Well, that and finish up my remaining correspondence coursework, I suppose. Then, then I'm going to buy to biggest-assed frame out there and proudly display that diploma of mine!

Truth be told, I think I'm still in a mild state of shock from the final crunch of exams. Whenever I sit down to compose a post, my mind just draws a blank and I end up staring at the screen for quite a few moments...then I play a few rounds of Trogdor and completely forget about my initial intent.

Let's see. What have I done lately. I guess Nicole and I checked out The Killers in concert, which turned out to be mildly disappointing. It was held at the Shaw Conference Centre, which has terrible acoustics, the "booze area" was about a football field's length away from the stage, and it was all over by 10:30pm. Mid-week, all-ages shows just don't go that extra mile, I suppose. There was very little crowd-interaction and their live performance was virtually identical to their CD sound. After experiencing the Velvet Revolver concert, I'm not sure if any concert will be able to top it...and I don't even like them all that much. It was by far, though, the most explosive rock show I've ever been to. Those veterans really knew how to f'n rock-out.

Somewhere between running, sleeping, and watching DVD television box-sets, Nicole and I also saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was a fairly decent movie. I've read the entire 5-part trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed Douglas Adams' quirky story telling ability. I'm not quite sure what I would have thought if I hadn't read the books, but Nicole assures me it was pretty good. I would have imagined she'd have left the theatre entertained, yet undoubtedly confused. There was an eerie moment when we realized we were both getting old and cantankerous: the movie was too loud.

And on that note, it's almost 1am and I'm absolutely exhausted...time for bed.

Currently: Updating my VegCam image. You guys were really on to something there.

Nautical Disaster

2005-04-29T16:12:00.000-06:00

Good ol' Bosco really threw me a curveball. One day he's lively and vibrant, and the next he's dead as can be.

Since he didn't even last 10 days in my care, I'm starting to think that the bowl I've been using for these Bettas is either cursed or highly contaminated with disease. Either way, I'll be taking him back to the store this evening, so hopefully they've got some pointers that'll help end my deadly reign of terror.

Currently: Huddled for warmpth under several blankets - cold enough out there for ya!?

How's About This Weather?

2005-04-20T23:03:00.000-06:00

What can I say; it was absolutely beautiful outside today. Though I didn't actually check a thermometer, I'm fairly confident we were nearing the high teens. It's the kind of weather which awakens certain primitive cravings in a man.

First and foremost, when the weather is this amazing, the "clean your car" survival instinct kicks in. I'm not sure why, but on that first day of nice weather it's almost impossible not to break out the pressure washer and Shop-Vac.

Secondly, it's also of the utmost importance that you go out and hunt down some brewed goodness. The coming of Spring is also the coming of the "fridge must be stocked with beer at all times" period. This continues roughly until the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs...which neatly runs right back into Spring.

Thirdly, it is virtually impossible to avoid migrating to the nearest patio. As sure as Canadian geese migrate south, Canadian hu-mans migrate to patios as soon as the mercury enters double digits. It's also nice to still see the sun after 4:30pm.

Currently: Contemplating a quiet book read on my own patio before bed...

Highliner Draft Dodger

2005-04-19T23:46:00.000-06:00

Seeing as how most of our indoor plants have stabilized and don't appear to have immediate plans to expire, I decided it was time to try and inject even more life into the ol' living room.

Fish are cheap, so...

Catholics have a new man in a fancy hat, and now this apartment has Bosco, the latest in the storied line of Skinner bettas. Blinky beget Blinky 2.0 beget "fish that died before being named" beget Bosco. Like counting the months on the hills and valleys of your knuckles, he's destined to live for quite some time, like his predecessor Blinky 2.0.

The original Blinky and fish #3 didn't fare quite so well, despite being aqua-matons that "are hardy enough to survive almost anywhere."

Currently: So very, very tired. Damn you, hill training!

Crack-Caffeine Junkie?

2005-04-16T23:24:00.000-06:00

Just could it be possible that these unfortunate (re: absolutely fucking relentless) symptoms I've been experiencing are due to caffeine withdrawal? Though it's often misleading to try and do your own medical research - as invariably you start to think you're sick or dying from anything you read about enough - it's remarkable how many of these general symptoms I'm experiencing.

I fiddled around with this online test and easily checked off more than half of the symptoms as yes. Obviously, to "wake up feeling tired" or experience "periods of fatigue during the day" are not insightful indicators of any one thing, if anything at all, but I guess it's the cumulative number of the withdrawal symptoms which counts.

But if any of this is true, I can certainly sympathize with my poor body for the rounds I put it through prior to not feeling the greatest. For a good chunk of March I was up at all hours of the night working on assignments by maintaining an irregular sleeping pattern and worshiping caffeine. Sure, with school and work and my woeful student finances I was also stressed out, but I wouldn't really say any more so than usual.

I suppose it's reasonable to expect that sleep deprivation and stimulants could start to pound me into submission.

I've purposely avoided caffeine for the past few weeks, and haven't felt all that great the entire time. This morning, however, I pounded back a cup of joe, and for the most part, felt great all day. I guess I'm still undecided if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Currently: Trying to tear myself away from watching hours upon hours of Six Feet Under.

Totally Orwellian

2005-04-15T02:37:00.000-06:00

So, it only took months upon months, but I finally finished reading George Orwell's Burmese Days. I really enjoyed Animal Farm. I absolutely loved Nineteen Eighty-Four. This book, on the other hand, was an absolute bore. In case you've ever been tempted to give it a read, the main character blows his brains out. Shoots his dog too. There. I've ruined the ending for you, and spared you the trouble of slogging through its loathsome pages.

As well, Nicole and I have been reduced to the level of mere commoners - those unwashed masses - ever since our free satellite hookup was disconnected. To be more accurate, Bell "upgraded their system" rendering our pirate card useless. With no signal, we've resorted to watching DVD boxsets of television shows. Two seasons of Futurama and some of Six Feet Under are what we've already downed. We've also got some Curb Your Enthusiasm waiting on deck.

You'll probably have noticed that my updates have been rather sparse over the past few weeks, and that's because I haven't really been feeling all that well. I'm not sure if I'm sick, malnourished, or my body/mind is simply turning on me, but it hasn't been a real treat. For hours of the day I'm absolutely exhausted, with tension enveloping my temples, neck, jaw, and shoulders. On top of that, my mouth and throat are soooo dry...no matter how much or how little I drink. Cold sweats. Loss of appetite. Yet no fever or vomiting. To be completely honest, this has been going on for over 3 weeks now, and I'm really starting to loathe it. I'm usually a big baby when it comes to being sick, so I can't imagine this has been a picnic for those around me either.

Glad I could paint that lovely picture for you! Bah!

Currently: Putting the final touches on my first commercial website layout.

Wooo!

2005-04-04T22:17:00.000-06:00

I'm Awesome
My oh my, look who's sitting at .500 with an impressive GAA below 8.0!

With two decisive ball hockey victories over the weekend, I believe it's now fair to say that I "bring that shit" when it comes time to play. Sure, some may argue that the guys playing in front of me were the real contributors to the victories, but I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth.

The only downside to the entire outing was discovering that the mounds of fertilizer Russel used last time to melt the remaining ice had soaked into all my equipment and was breaking it down. Bring out the duct-tape!

I'm Retarded
I must be cracking up. I dragged my post-Wrestlemania butt out of bed to make it to my 8am class, but things did not seem quite right. I arrived about 10 minutes early and was surprised to see that I was the first person there. Usually there's a few early-birds, especially on days when we've got readings to finish for a class discussion.

At 5 minutes to, I was still the only person there.

At the buzzer, I was the only person there.

Apparently the tours of the Edmonton Max were today (Monday) and this upcoming Friday, not Wednesday and Friday like I'd imagined. I can't believe I was the only student in the whole class who managed to mix those dates up. Thank God my tour group is the one going on Friday!

I'm Net-savvy
I've managed to con Nicole's brother-in-law into thinking that I know a thing or two about computers and website design. He's asked me to be the webmaster for his chiropractic clinic's website, and we're finally on the verge of launching.

I anticipate many caffeine fueled evenings.

Currently: Baking a delicious chocolate chip snack cake.

The 17.5% Error

2005-03-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

I received my marked research paper this morning, and it ended up being a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, this behemoth of a paper that's worth 40% of my final mark, the paper which I fretted over, uncharacteristically, for over a week, received the highest mark in the class. Unfortunately, I only got 30/40 on it...that's right, 75%.

When I handed in my paper proposal, the professor commented that it was the best synopsis in the class, but that I forgot to mention the articles contained in our textbook. It seems that when it came time to write the actual paper, I over-compensated for that previous deficiency. I scored nearly perfectly in the "theory comprehension" section, but scored 0/7 for the requirement of integrating the class material! Essentially, that 17.5% I squandered could have landed me with a 92.5% on the paper. Though I certainly had the class notes in mind while I was articulating my theses, I suppose I didn't adequately delineate where I was throwing it in.

It's frustrating, to be sure, that I could have made such a mistake. I guess I can take some small comfort in the fact that Dr. Martel has requested a copy of my paper to post on her personal website, as a "stunning" example of a quality 400-level paper.

Currently: Chowing down on some baked pyrogies

Substantial!

2005-03-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

Now this idea of mine, I believe, is quite ingenious.

For those of you who have ever had to live away from home, or more precisely, for those of you who have ever had to live away from your own clothes washer and dryer, you'll know that keeping your clothes clean is a real pain in the ass. Not only do apartment/laundromat machines tend to handle small loads, but the cost is actually quite exorbitant. Over here at our place, it's $1.75 to wash, and another $1.75 to dry. That $3.50 could get me a pint during Happy Hour.

Gathering the necessary combination of quarters and loonies for such an operation as a designated "laundry day" is often fraught with logistical complications. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, I usually don't tend to have any money, and when I do, I rely heavily on direct debit. It's pretty hard to amass coins when you're handling virtual dollars. Anyways, every machine needs 1 loonie and 3 quarters over here. Suspiciously short of both, I tore apart the apartment, searching pants pockets, jackets, under cushions to gather all the shrapnel I could. With a tub of nickels and dimes in hand, the light bulb upstairs turned on.

I went down to the lobby and pumped nearly $10 worth of change into the vending machine, bought myself a Kit-Kat, and the change dispensed was all quarters! Bwahahahhahaa!

Currently: Doing 3 loads of laundry on 3 different floors of the building.

Ritualistic Competition

2005-03-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Make no mistake about it, a simple dinner party is not as innocent as it might seem. I contend that it's an ancient tribal ritual, sanctioned by the Gods to test the mettle and perseverance of even the most confident of young couples.

The Masters (Nicole's sister, her husband, and their food-scarfing munchkin) will be coming over for an evening of dining tomorrow, and we've already made certain preparations to foil their attempted social aggression - in our own territory, yet! How very brazen of them. When thrust into such a situation, the formula for success is to:

Remember all those times that they invited you over to their place and placated your culinary sovereignty with tasty feasts and...
...make damn well sure that when you finally reciprocate, you've concocted the most tantalizing assortment of grilled goods possible.
It also helps to administer copious amounts of alcohol (re: booze) to smooth over any deficiencies in "hosting" performance or food quality.

Yes, that's right, it's a form of peer-to-peer Cold War, and the only path to victory is more...more of everything than what they have. They serve you pepperoni pizza at their place, you invite them over to yours for pepperoni and bacon pizza. There's a cold calculation/tabulation behind any "couple visiting couple" scenario, and oh!, Lord knows what other ulterior motives. In fact, I'm 75% sure of it. Insidious, indeed.

Currently: Marinating what will soon become the most succulent, most flavourful, most tender of shish kebobs assembled thus far in all of human existence.

Riddle Me This, Kaler?

2005-03-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

My afternoon "Population and Social Policy" class was witness to one of those rare moments in human experience, where an intangible, perhaps psychic bond united us students.

Every week we have group discussion, and if you can recall from previous posts, I do not like the group discussion format. By and large I find it ineffective. Typically no new thought is generated beyond that necessary to read the 3-page hand-in discussion notes which we've all prepared. Apparently I am not alone in my dislike for this redundant and ineffective exercise.

With less than 30 minutes in the class, it looked like the professor was wrapping up her lecture, and with a sensible hint of mass panic (perhaps despair?) we all realized that we'd soon be broken up arbitrarily into groups and forced to "discuss." Then it happened...

One by one, we students started asking the professor questions about her lecture. Most student/professor dialogue in this particular class consists of one talkative guy and one talkative girl throwing out random queries to the professor - sometimes these vocalizations aren't even questions, but vague references of "I read this article that..." or "In my other SOC class I learned...". Anyways, these participation mark Showboaters took a back seat as we bombarded the front of the room with questions.

Obviously taken aback by this sudden outburst of interaction, the professor embraced the moment, somewhat reminiscent of a lonely puppy getting a belly-rub from dozens of gawkers. So, one by one, we submitted queries until barely 5 minutes remained, at which point the whole process ended abruptly.

End of class! Students: 1, Teacher: 0.

Currently: Searching online job postings. The PRL limits me to 15 hrs/wk, and that just won't cut it financially.

The Motherload

2005-03-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

What a glorious, glorious day! This ranks right up there with discovering that we could watch scrambled porn in Jeremy's basement if we looked at the picture on one TV, and listened to the sound from the TV in the other corner. Our dual-screen technology greatly enhanced many a sleepover. It was our PornoDS, 15 years ahead of its time. So here we go - a whole slew of great things happened today!

#1 Gregg pulled through for me and picked up an assortment of doughnuts from Krispy Kreme in Calgary. Those bastards who prescribed to the Atkins Diet caused the company to lose a great deal of money, and their Edmonton expansion got axed. I was beginning to fear that I'd never get a taste. Here's what I nabbed from his goodie box:

Oh, and I also got a little paper hat, emblazoned with their catchy slogan "Eat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts." Glorious!

#2 I got to tour the Edmonton Correctional Facility for Women. It's located in the middle of an industrial area along 178St. and 111Ave. It was a fieldtrip, more or less, with my SOC421 (Society and Punishment) class, and we were there for about an hour. The facility isn't much like a prison, but reminded me more of a female workcamp. Instead of cells, the inmates live in a cul-de-sac of houses, 10 rooms apiece. They cook and clean for themselves, and more often than not, work for the correctional facility either as maintenance staff or in the CORCAN shop. It was an interesting place to visit, and I can't wait to compare it to my upcoming tour of the Edmonton Max.

#3 If it's good enough for Magnum P.I., then it's good enough for me! As of today, Nicole and I are officially heading on down to Hawaii in October. We'll be trekking along with her sister's family, and staying at a family timeshare - so once we get our airfare covered we'll all set. I highly doubt Jetsgo had flights to Hawaii, so I'm confident ticket prices haven't changed much for that particular destination. How can I afford this, you ask? That's a very good question. What I do know is that I'll have convocated and been working for a bit, most likely with Tri-City Drilling, before we take off. Until then I'll be saving my pennies by eating things stuck to the undersides of benches and tables.

#4 I discovered that I'm not completely inept when it comes to home plant care. Apparently daffodils are supposed to wilt and die a few days after they bloom. You then save the bulbs in paper bags and re-plant them in the spring. It sure would have been nice to know that little tidbit before I thought myself horrible for killing off two consecutive plants.

#5 Apparently the door to our suite is not broken, is not sitting strangely in the frame, and is not sticking for some unfathomable reason. The door mat was bunched up underneath it...yeah...that's about it. 12 years of University education between the two of us, and it didn't get figured out for several days.

#6 I got my income tax refund, and the government was kind enough to pay me $20 more than I paid out to them. The arrival of the money was cause for much joy. Then I paid my tuition and the utility bills, and it's pretty much gone. The spending of the money was cause for much sorrow.

Currently listening to: Well, if this had been the other night, wind horrendously whistling from our patio doors.

Gruesome Acts of Mach-italism

2005-03-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

George, apparently, is buying a really cool looking book about the evils of capitalism. I can't wait for him to finish it, come down for the weekend to get schooled at ball hockey, and then place the finished book in my grubby hands. I despise Capitalism so much, in fact, that I insidiously refuse to "feed the system" by ensuring that I never have any money whatsoever.

That's right. I want that book first. I've already done unspeakable things to get Gregg to bring my Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Calgary, and I won't be denied.

Currently: Running over to Gregg's @ 11:30pm to eat pastries.

I Need Booze

2005-03-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

The first of two term research papers has been completed, and it's a veritable tome at 21-pages.

I would type out a post, but I've typed so many words lately, and stared at this damn monitor for so long, that I can barely subject myself to such a thing.

It is done. I am glad. Let us dance.

Currently: Enjoying a Crown and Coke over a few turns of Rome: Total War.

My Substantial Girth

2005-03-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

Still mired in the complexities of my term paper, I've decided to tackle my data-budgeting needs by utilizing a peculiar device which has remained relatively unknown throughout my academic career: the almighty hi-liter.

I always thought it absurd to glance at a fellow competitor/classmate's notes and be blinded by a sea of neon fluorescence. If every word on the page is hi-lited, then you might want to refocus your studies on what's really important.

Anyways, Nicole emerged from the depths of our apartment with this ginormous hi-liter that, apparently, "served [her] well through two years of university. So don't wreck it." Quite honestly, its sheer size is a sight to behold:

Magnificent!

Currently: Enjoying a fine cup of green tea.

"Oh, no, I've gone cross-eyed."

2005-03-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

"Best synopsis of the class...however, you forgot to discuss Garland. 9/10"

That's the comment that my SOC421 professor left at the end of my research paper synopsis. Try as I might, I can't help but chuckle out loud whenever I read it. The 12-16 page paper, on some aspect of crime and punishment, revolves around one very specific requirement - that the theoretical basis of your argument is supported by a chapter in Garland's book.

I'll be honest, I still hadn't chosen a chapter from the text at the time I handed in my synopsis. You might argue that my BS glands were in overdrive to produce anything at all. The final paper is due on Monday, so that's no longer the case (I'll be utilizing his chapters on Foucoult, and to a small extent, Marx) but I still can't help but look back and chuckle.

Currently listening to: The Weakerthans - Plea From a Cat Named Virtue